Born American, Raised Canadian

[omaralikhan92]

Hey so I posted a similar question in the applying to international schools forum before I saw the American Schools one.

 

Heres the original post:

 

"Okay, so i know this is quite premature seeing as i am in grade 12, and have just finished applying to undergrad programs.

But I had a few questions, and was wondering if any of you could help out.

 

1) Clearly alot of you have experience, looking back in relation to your undergrad is there anything you would have done differently anyt tips for me?

 

I'm planning on Life Sciences at UofT St. George btw.

 

2) I've lived in Ontario pretty much my whole life, but I am an American citizen. What advantage does this give me? Is it easier getting into med school in the states as opposed to in Canada?

 

3) Any tips or information in general would be greatly appreciated."

 

The question in bold is what I most want to know about.

 

Thank You!

[keith_015]

Hey so I posted a similar question in the applying to international schools forum before I saw the American Schools one.

 

Heres the original post:

 

"Okay, so i know this is quite premature seeing as i am in grade 12, and have just finished applying to undergrad programs.

But I had a few questions, and was wondering if any of you could help out.

 

1) Clearly alot of you have experience, looking back in relation to your undergrad is there anything you would have done differently anyt tips for me?

 

I'm planning on Life Sciences at UofT St. George btw.

 

2) I've lived in Ontario pretty much my whole life, but I am an American citizen. What advantage does this give me? Is it easier getting into med school in the states as opposed to in Canada?

 

3) Any tips or information in general would be greatly appreciated."

 

The question in bold is what I most want to know about.

 

Thank You!

 

Yes, of course! You can apply to likely every school across the US (unless the school is for certain minorities only and you don't qualify) which gives you quite a large selection. Canada has a limited number of schools, with a lot being regio-selective to the province of residence.

 

Canadians are disadvantaged applying to the US because there is a large number that don't accept non citizens/PR's. So your answer again is YES, having US citizenship will give you the opportunity to apply extremely broadly. Oh, and the nice thing is that you'd be eligible for US Stafford Loans and school based scholarships (which many schools won't give to Cdns).

[s5260205]

Yes, of course! You can apply to likely every school across the US (unless the school is for certain minorities only and you don't qualify) which gives you quite a large selection. Canada has a limited number of schools, with a lot being regio-selective to the province of residence.

 

Canadians are disadvantaged applying to the US because there is a large number that don't accept non citizens/PR's. So your answer again is YES, having US citizenship will give you the opportunity to apply extremely broadly. Oh, and the nice thing is that you'd be eligible for US Stafford Loans and school based scholarships (which many schools won't give to Cdns).

 

How about a non-US citizen student studying in an American college? Does that make it easier to get into American medical schools?

[smartalleck2]

Hey so I posted a similar question in the applying to international schools forum before I saw the American Schools one.

 

Heres the original post:

 

"Okay, so i know this is quite premature seeing as i am in grade 12, and have just finished applying to undergrad programs.

But I had a few questions, and was wondering if any of you could help out.

 

1) Clearly alot of you have experience, looking back in relation to your undergrad is there anything you would have done differently anyt tips for me?

 

I'm planning on Life Sciences at UofT St. George btw.

 

2) I've lived in Ontario pretty much my whole life, but I am an American citizen. What advantage does this give me? Is it easier getting into med school in the states as opposed to in Canada?

 

3) Any tips or information in general would be greatly appreciated."

 

The question in bold is what I most want to know about.

 

Thank You!

 

Hey,

 

I can help you out a bit since I am dual citizen with the same exact situation as yourself. I have applied to both American and Canadian schools this cycle and have had a lot of success. The previous posts are correct in that you have a lot more choice. Pretty much any US school is available to you. However, be wary of some state schools that are OOS (Out of State) unfriendly. For example, the Florida schools (except Miami) take very very few OOS people. As a US citizen living in Canada, you are OOS everywhere. To find out who is OOS friendly, buy the MSAR book and look at the stats.

 

In terms of landing interviews in US vs Canada, the US is much easier. I applied to 25 US schools thinking I'd get less than half in interviews. I ended up getting 18 invites. Based on this info (since the US schools get back to you quicker than Canadian), I applied to only three Canadian schools. UBC rejected me, got an interview at Mac and still waiting on UofT. UBC is 50/50 grades and ECs, Mac has that messed up formula and UofT is 60% grades. The US places much more emphasis on the MCAT. If you can land at least a 35, you have a good shot landing interviews at the top US schools. Research goes further with the top 20 US schools than Canadian (UofT is the exception). GPA conversion tends to be favourable when in the states, I go to UWO and an 80 converts to a 4.0. Yes the rumours are true. Whatever your school considers an A is a 4.0 according to AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service).

 

For interviews, US are very laid back and non-MMI (except for a couple of weird schools such as Cincinnati I hear). I believe the Canadian ones are more stressful. I haven't had one yet so I couldn't tell you . In terms of acceptances for the US schools. I got 3 waitlists, 4 acceptances, and one decision pending until March. I went to 8 interviews.

 

I apologize for the long answer, but I wanted to help you out as much as I could. It's very rare to see a dual citizen in this situation. If you have anymore questions, please post/PM me.

[Dr.Henderson]

What are your stats Smartalleck, and what schools if you don't mind me asking?

[smartalleck2]

4.0 (AMCAS), (OMSAS = 3.98) 36M (V=10 P=14 B=12). Accepted at Northwestern, Cornell, Miami, and Ohio State. Waitlisted at Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Hopkins. Still waiting on Columbia.

[bannie22]

4.0 (AMCAS), (OMSAS = 3.98) 36M (V=10 P=14 B=12). Accepted at Northwestern, Cornell, Miami, and Ohio State. Waitlisted at Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Hopkins. Still waiting on Columbia.

 

 

*envy* at being able to apply to more top 20s than me.

[rmitch8]

4.0 (AMCAS), (OMSAS = 3.98) 36M (V=10 P=14 B=12). Accepted at Northwestern, Cornell, Miami, and Ohio State. Waitlisted at Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Hopkins. Still waiting on Columbia.

 

Whoa man. When did you hear about Cornell? I interviewed there in Dec, but thought they didn't send out acceptances until later in the season..

 

EDIT: NEvermind, just looked over on SDN and saw they sent out some acceptances around Christmas, congrats!

[omaralikhan92]

Wow, thanks so much smartalleck, you really answered my question well. I was also wondering though about EC's and things other than grades. I mean, since joining this forum I've seen people with crazy lists. Publishing papers, being presidents in clubs, volunteering. Any tips? Im wondering if the whole extra curricular atmosphere is different in university than it is in highschool. I dont even know where to begin.

[smartalleck2]

Wow, thanks so much smartalleck, you really answered my question well. I was also wondering though about EC's and things other than grades. I mean, since joining this forum I've seen people with crazy lists. Publishing papers, being presidents in clubs, volunteering. Any tips? Im wondering if the whole extra curricular atmosphere is different in university than it is in highschool. I dont even know where to begin.

 

Well publishing papers is not a must. There are very few undergrads who have done such a feat. However, you should get involved in research as early as possible. If you can get some clinical and basic science research under your belt, that will be very impressive for the top US schools and some Canadian schools. The nice thing about clinical research is that it can lead to clinical experience. This is the most important of all ECs and the hardest to get. Hospital volunteering is very cliche and not very conducive to creating an excellent clinical anecdote for your interview. Of course there are exceptions to this, but if you have something that stands out other than hospital volunteering you are ahead of the pack.

 

You don't have to be a president of a club, but try be an active participant. Leadership is indeed important but it involves more than being a president of something. Creating initiatives in your university or making presentations in front of your peers could be considered leadership. Find something that you like doing and try to be involved in it.

 

Community service is also important and can be done relatively easily. Try to find something that relates to who you are as a person. As an example, I did a lot of immigrant volunteer work in my neighbourhood (I am an immigrant myself). Sports and hobbies serve more as the icing on the cake for ECs.

 

The backbone is really clinical experience, leadership, community service and research. Try to do something in all of them to have your bases covered. You do not need to do all these things but to be safe it is preferred you do.

 

Moral of the story is to find ECs which interest you and help you tell a story to the adcom of what makes you tick. For every EC you do, keep a record of it as well as a verifier who can confirm you did it (for Canadian apps). Keep in touch with them since they can be valuable reference letter writers.

 

In the end, GPA and MCAT are the cornerstones of your med application. They will make adcoms look at you. Choose courses which interest you and for subject matter that you excel in. For the MCAT, do it after second year since most of the material is covered in the first two years of science undergrad. Get your MCAT score BEFORE you apply. Do NOT do both at the same time. It will be very detrimental to you especially for the US schools due to their rolling admissions and the timing issue (earlier the better).

 

Hope this helps